Call for help: deliberate fires

Following a
large fire at a farm in Hart Village in Hartlepool, Cleveland Fire Brigade is
calling for public support to tackle deliberate fires.

Despite the current government guidance on staying at home to help alleviate the Coronavirus pandemic, the Brigade is still attending incidents of mindless arson.

Steve
Johnson, Area Manager Prevention said “It is so disappointing to see that at a time
when we all need to be coming together to support one another we still have people
committing crimes and ruining our local communities.

We need the
public’s support, now more than ever. Our
resources need to be available to respond to any fires in the home and support
with humanitarian aid for vulnerable people in our communities.

We are
pleading with the public to support us to remove ARSON from our neighbourhoods. This is an ideal opportunity for communities
to get behind us on the zero tolerance to arsonists. We all need to work together to tackle arson –
it is everyone’s problem.”

The public can help tackle arson by eliminating potential sources of fuel by:

Putting
wheelie bins out only on the day if collection and bring them in as soon as
possible

Earlier this
month Cleveland Fire Brigade launched its Tackling Arson Together campaign
which identified the staggering estimated cost of arson to the Cleveland economy
of nearly £18m in 2018/19.

Latest
figures show there were 3,656 deliberate fires across Cleveland in 2018/19,
costing the local communities £17.9m. The fires were predominately rubbish and
refuse, grassland and vehicles.

The costs of
deliberate fires include Brigade call-outs and attendance, and costs to the
wider community through damage, repairs, loss of business & productivity,
insurance and council funding. (source Office of Deputy Prime Minister Economic Cost of
Fire Estimates 2004 : adjusted to current day value)